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PAGE 16 â€" WATERLOO CHRONICLE, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 1983 Tom Jones, according to Fielding‘s lusty account, was a carefree lad, a funâ€"loving individual, a ladies‘ man, not a whimpering mother‘s boy. But Bruce Clayton‘s meek interpretation turned the fair and gallant gadabout, with a roving eye for any woman‘s frontal attributes, into nothing short of a fop, a midâ€"century bloomered curly from Rodgers & Hammersteins‘ Okâ€" lahoma. Valerie Galvin‘s beloved Sophia, could have been his Laurie. Her velvet voice was endearing, in sparse melodic pockets, but her portrayal was as milkâ€"white as her features. And the two lovers sapped throughout the tedious night lending the halfâ€"attended house marvellous new opporâ€" tunities to explore the curious art of fidgeting whenever the occasion presented itself. u Steven Simms as prissy sissy Master Blifil, was overdone, from his baffling brows, two most precarious protuberances in the midst of his ringletâ€"framed forehead, to his tooâ€"sour disposition. Joâ€"Anne Kirwinâ€"Clark as bewitching Molly and the buxom, wise and witty ""*Mrs. Watersâ€"Zuh", was the spicy saving grace of the show, her sparkle vastly similar to the cinematic peach, who participated in the famed fruitâ€"atâ€"theâ€"inn seduction scene with the insatiable bard Albert Finney, as everyone‘s favorite Tom. Nancy Kerr made a splendid beautyâ€" marked Lady Bellaston, and a formidable Miss Western in her double stint and also lit up this disappointing effort when she flowed onto the stage. "I shall follow you to the grave, madame, if you ally yourself to a bastard."" she told niece Sophia haughtily. + No one should have allied themselves to such ill theatrical folly and fashion. The characters valliantly paced at a steady kilter, but soapy song and dance slowed Tom to a snail‘s pace, taking his disheartened enthusiasts on a vintage rollerâ€"coaster, as the farce tried to thicken but couldn‘t. operetta Tom Jones. Chronicte Special Valerie Gailvin as Sophia Western and Bruce Clayton as Tom Jones in the Coral Andrews Chronicle Staff Toronto‘s favorite funnymen the Frantics, are the last item on the national menu of comedy cuisine at UW Humanities Theatre. I recently chatted with ‘appetizer Peter Wildman. *‘‘What‘s new? Beaucoup. The big gig at Waterloo is obviously on our minds. And we just found out we‘re doing a fiveâ€"week run at the Toronto Free Theatre, between January and February," he said. The Kitchener Waâ€" terloo Philharmonic Choir will open its 62nd season with a perforâ€" mance of Brahms â€" A German Requiem Satâ€" urday, Nov. 5 at 8 p.m. in the Centre in the Square. The German Requiâ€" em is one of the most optimistic requiem setâ€" tings and has thrilled and inspired audiences with its intense feeling and rich harmonies characteristic of the Romantic period. Brahmsâ€"A German Requiem opens Philharmonic season ‘‘It looks like we‘re going to be doing a T.V. Show, but I can‘t divulge which station at this point in time, Station T.B.A. (to be announced) And .. and .. and ... Ahhhhh yes. We have a record coming out on the CBC label which should be available in the stores by Christmas." This frenzied quartet are wild. spontaneous, comedy comrades from Toronto who have had such enormous popularity with CBC hit series Frantic Times, that they‘ve recently switched their usual Wednesday night laugh date to Saturday morning on CBL to attract even more enthusiasts. The friendly foursome will soon tape Frantic Times every other Thursday at the Ontario College of Art. A wellâ€"chosen word, the ‘"Frantic‘ schedule. ‘‘But, everything is looking good," said Wildman brightly. "I, myself, have just been doing far too much. I‘ve got a dentist appointment, got to have my car checked, and I became a father two and a half months ago, so there‘s always lots of paperwork whether it‘s business at hand or disposable diapers." Wildman is a mountain of energy, and claims he‘s the guy with the bulging blood vessel on the side of his head. ‘*My blood pressure and adrenalin are a little high, but I‘m mellowing with age. I really enjoy performing as we all do. It‘s a marvelious little charge, and a lot of the characters are highâ€"strung," he said. ‘"Wow. I don‘t know. If you compare us to the Goons or Monty Python? That‘s nice. Now, that‘s quality. We like to cater to the intellectual crowd. That‘s why we do university dates. We used to do highâ€"school reviews, yes, I know, four grown men in anything from dresses to any form of outrageous outfit." Where do the Frantics come from? What comedy masters inspired such madness? No matter what, Frantics comedy ‘has to be funny Peter and his frantic cohorts, don‘t want a ‘label‘ on their Under the leadership of Musical Director, J. Howard Dyck, the choir of 120 voices and the Kitchenerâ€"Waterloo Symphony Orchestra will be joined by soâ€" loists Henrietta Schelâ€" lenberg and Mark Peâ€" drotti. Schellenberg, a soâ€" prano, has returned to Canada from studies in Germany. She will sing as well Exultate Jubiâ€" late by Mozart. Bariâ€" tone Mark Pedrotti was heard last year in his highly acclaimed debut in Messiah. The choir will open the proâ€" gram with Song of Desâ€" tiny by Brahms. Tickets to the perforâ€" mance may be purâ€" chased in advance by phone, mail or in perâ€" son from the Box Office of the Centre in the Square or through any Eaton‘s Ticketron outâ€" let. â€" The performance of Brahms is the first of four concerts in the *‘*You know, like Second City. I haven‘t seen their act recently, and we used to get comments like. ‘Oh, right those guys are a lot like Second City. But now because of Frantic Times, it‘s a sign our group is established. Now we say ‘we‘re the Frantics.‘ Oh yeah, I‘ve heard about you guys. Now this is not to say we are better or worse than other comedy teams of individuals. We‘ve just developed a certain style. We‘ve come into our own." ‘"Our show is skillfully crafted. It‘s not geared to hecklers, and we in the past have been fortunate to accumulate very few. and these nasties are usually dealt with accordingly. Ours is not target humor, but fastâ€"paced funnies and a ton of oneâ€"liners. "Are you looking for a contraceptive that helps fight virginity? Try new Brook Shields."" You know, that sort of thing. Or, we deal with Catholics trying to get into heaven but heaven is for Presbyterians only. Or how about Vince Van Gogh? Let‘s look at the work of Van Gogh. Nah, skip that. everyone‘s done old Vince. The show, is fast, to the point. and you never know what to expect." â€" If you listen to CBC‘s Frantic Times, you know what the *Wild Man‘ is talking about. Seats for Saturday‘s frivolity, are going fast, and on their cross Canada tour the Frantics got a standing ovation in Brandon, Manitoba. *‘"Wouldn‘t it be wonderful if one hundred years from now. there was a ... Frantics Festival? Yes! Can you see it? Little buttons and clips of our radio and television classics. Oh boy. Oh boy ..." art. Peter does admit that a great deal of Frantics‘ influences are British. From the scathingly naughty Not the Nine O‘Clock News, to the vintage slapstick antics of Britain‘s beloved Goons, with Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan. *‘*We are the thinking man‘s comedy." "*We go in quite serious, quite witty, but we don‘t interact with the crowd. Our show is a unit, a conglomerate of comments from all directions, from medieval parody, which I do in song (shades of Dudley Moore perhaps? ) to the dry subtle stuff. We do the political of course, but the bottom line is. no matter what we do it‘s got to be funny." The Frantics like the pub scene, but much prefer theatre. because of the people and the immediacy of doing the show live to the house. ‘‘*We were thrilled! I can hardly wait for Waterloo, and we‘re bringing a ton of buttons and posters with us." Philharmonic Choir‘s 1983â€"84 season which is rich in its variety. cert will be Benjamin Britten‘s Saint Nichoâ€" las Cantata Sunday, Dec. 11 at 8 p.m. To mark the Easter seaâ€" son, the choir will sing the Saint Matthew Pasâ€" slon of J .S. Bach Good Friday, April 20, 1984. The season will close with the first perforâ€" mance in the area of Its Christmas conâ€" TheDream of Geronâ€" tius of Sir Edward Elgar, Wednesday. May 16, 1984. In the tradition of the Choir, Howard Dyck‘s two other choirs, the Stratâ€" ford Concert Choir and the London Pro Musiâ€" ca, will join the Philâ€" harmonic Choir to sing this great work. Seaâ€" sons subscriptions may also be purchased through the Centre in the Square‘s Box Office or through Eaton‘s Ticketron outlets.